Jury Trial

CHARLES J. UNGER This is a sad and terrible story. A mother loses her twin fetuses due to a misdiagnosis by a doctor at Kaiser Permanente. Kaiser admits it is liable, and looks to compensate the mother for her loss. The problem, however, is that Kaiser is refusing to compensate the father for his loss. In this case, Robert Ferro and his wife, Jennifer Jewell, suffered their loss when an obstetrician and a radiologist misdiagnosed this to be an ectopic pregnancy.

Gary Moskowitz The day before a retrial for accused killers Rafael Gevorgyan and Karen Terteryan, their attorneys spent most of their time debating last-minute plea bargains and preparing family members for what might happen the second time around. The men are accused in the beating and stabbing death of Hoover High School student Raul Aguirre in 2000. Last week, Terteryan was willing to accept an offer of 23 years and eight months in prison.

The Glendale Police Department's sexual-harassment trial remains on hold while the judge prepares for back surgery. The decision whether to delay the trial three months in anticipation of Judge David A. Workman's return to the bench or transfer the case to another judge and reopen it in mid-April is up to supervising Judge Carolyn Kuhl, court officials said. Kuhl is not scheduled for court until at least Friday. Three Glendale Police officers are suing the city, alleging sexual harassment, discrimination and retaliation.

Charles J. Unger Every once in a while, it seems appropriate to revisit a case written about previously in this column, especially when a new decision has been reached by a higher court. I am going to take this occasion to revisit the matter of Calvin J. Burdine, also known as the man with the sleeping lawyer. Mr. Burdine was convicted of murder in Texas in 1983, and his case soon became a o7 cause celebref7 , as his attorney apparently had a hard time staying awake during the trial.

The letter by Barbara Pallos concerning her jury experience is a testimonial to what appears to be a growing trend with juries that sit on civil cases. One of the greatest safeguards we have as citizens is the right to a jury trial. The right to a jury trial was not originally written into our Constitution. It became part of the Constitution by the Bill of Rights. The reason for including trial by jury in the Constitution was because our founding fathers felt it was one of those important inalienable rights given to all people.

An Americana at Brand representative said the mall’s owner, Caruso Affiliated, plans to appeal a court ruling that years of construction at the site forced a nearby recording studio to close. Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Richard Rico on Wednesday found that Caruso and the city of Glendale effectively condemned Backroom Entertainment during construction of the 15.5-acre shopping center from 2005 to 2008. The studio, used by several rap artists and singers, operated at 230 S. Orange St. in a building now surrounded on three sides by the Americana.

Ben Godar A mistrial was called Tuesday in the Glendale Police sexual-harassment trial after several jurors again reported being too sick to listen to testimony. Three female Glendale Police officers are suing the city, claiming they were the victims of sexual harassment and retaliation by male co-workers. Testimony in the jury trial, which began Feb. 5, included a police sergeant admitting to operating a pornographic Web site from the watch sergeant's office and the former secretary to the police chief saying a lieutenant exposed himself to her. The trial was delayed Thursday after one juror and two of the three alternate jurors called in sick.

GLENDALE — A long-running billing dispute between the city and the contractor who installed a seismic retrofit for the Municipal Services Building at City Hall could soon reach a jury trial if both sides can’t reach a settlement, officials said. The $14.2-million seismic upgrade to the four-story building that sits atop four pointed support columns at 633 E. Broadway was awarded to Anaheim-based DJM Construction Company Inc. in 2006 and, save a few last-minute details, is all but complete.

Former Councilman John Drayman pleaded guilty to three felonies Wednesday morning, including embezzlement, and agreed to a sentence of one year in jail as well as paying about $305,000 in restitution. During the brief hearing in a downtown Los Angeles courtroom, he also agreed to pay about $14,000 in restitution to the state of California Franchise Tax Board. One of the felony counts was filing false tax returns as a result of his theft from a weekly farmers market run by the Montrose Shopping Park Assn.

Alecia Foster GLENDALE -- A federal judge found two Glendale men not guilty Wednesday on charges they tried to extort money from a sewing factory owner. U.S. Judge Richard Paez acquitted Henzel Harutian and Albert Ambartsumyan of the charges during a retrial of the case. "It's really a sweet victory," said defense attorney Mark Geragos. The two men had been accused of threatening Armen Eloyan and his wife, Anahit, for failing to make payments on the Glendale sewing factory they bought from Harutian.

Former Councilman John Drayman pleaded guilty to three felonies Wednesday morning, including embezzlement, and agreed to a sentence of one year in jail as well as paying about $305,000 in restitution. During the brief hearing in a downtown Los Angeles courtroom, he also agreed to pay about $14,000 in restitution to the state of California Franchise Tax Board. One of the felony counts was filing false tax returns as a result of his theft from a weekly farmers market run by the Montrose Shopping Park Assn.

An Americana at Brand representative said the mall’s owner, Caruso Affiliated, plans to appeal a court ruling that years of construction at the site forced a nearby recording studio to close. Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Richard Rico on Wednesday found that Caruso and the city of Glendale effectively condemned Backroom Entertainment during construction of the 15.5-acre shopping center from 2005 to 2008. The studio, used by several rap artists and singers, operated at 230 S. Orange St. in a building now surrounded on three sides by the Americana.

This paper published a story March 4 about a local woman, Hasmik Khanbabayan, who filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against the city. She claims her husband, Vahan Karapetian, allegedly died from injuries sustained when he fell off a porch at the historic Casa Adobe de San Rafael. As I read the article, the only facts I learned about her case were that her husband was in his 80s when he fell; he was hospitalized for two months with a fractured hip and shoulder before he died; and there were no witnesses.

GLENDALE — A long-running billing dispute between the city and the contractor who installed a seismic retrofit for the Municipal Services Building at City Hall could soon reach a jury trial if both sides can’t reach a settlement, officials said. The $14.2-million seismic upgrade to the four-story building that sits atop four pointed support columns at 633 E. Broadway was awarded to Anaheim-based DJM Construction Company Inc. in 2006 and, save a few last-minute details, is all but complete.

Every six months or so I come across a “scary lawyer story,” and the following would be one of those. Let me add that this is an example of why it is so very important to choose your attorney wisely and be willing to spend a little more money if it means getting good representation. At least that’s what Joan Huang found out when her attorney, David Brockway, did her jury trial. Huang was charged with several federal felonies involving the selling of counterfeit goods.

A Superior Court judge on Monday upheld the murder charge against Ara Grigoryan, the man charged in the July 2007 hit-and-run death of Elizabeth Sandoval. Grigoryan’s defense team had sought to reduce the murder charge before going to trial, arguing that prosecutors made certain assumptions about the incident and had overblown the 20-year-old’s prior driving infractions to infer a “wanton disregard” for human life — a key finding for murder. But on Monday, Pasadena Superior Court Judge Dorothy Shubin let the murder charge stand, saying the prosecution’s case was strong enough to go to a jury trial.

PASADENA ? A Superior Court judge on Monday upheld the murder charge against Ara Grigoryan, the man charged in the July 2007 hit-and-run death of Elizabeth Sandoval. Grigoryan?s defense team had sought to reduce the murder charge before going to trial, arguing that prosecutors made certain assumptions about the incident and had overblown the 20-year-old?s prior driving infractions to infer a ?wanton disregard? for human life ? a key finding for murder. But on Monday, Pasadena Superior Court Judge Dorothy Shubin let the murder charge stand, saying the prosecution?

Alleged hit-and-run driver faces trial 1Nearly six months after Ara Grigoryan was arrested on suspicion of causing the hit-and-run death of 24-year-old Elizabeth Sandoval, Pasadena Superior Court Judge Teri Schwartz on Dec. 19 ruled that Grigoryan would stand trial for second-degree murder. Grigoryan is scheduled to be arraigned on Thursday. Schwartz’s ruling was the latest development in a case that caused community uproar over not only the incident, but Glendale’s high number of pedestrian-related traffic accidents.

What will the California State Supreme Court do? The question before the justices in early June pertained to the April 2000 jury trial of Roy Garcia. Garcia was accused and convicted of shooting his neighbor over a property-line dispute. The evidence was mostly circumstantial, and Garcia was sentenced to life in prison. So, what was it that brought this case in front of the highest court of the state? It was the behavior of Superior Court Judge Hugh Mullin III during the jury trial.